//------------------------------// // The Setup // Story: The Crusaders // by GJT_Productions //------------------------------// "Captain, I still don't understand why we had to reschedule Feather Bangs' performance for... whatever it was we actually saw in there..." "Lieutenant Captain, you should understand by now that the only opinion of consequence in this argument is Princess Celestia's. And by all accounts she enjoyed the 'comic destruction', as she put it, of the replica set." "... Yes sir. Now I'll have to check... hmmm..." "Something wrong, Stratocumulus?" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "There might be, sir." Lieutenant Captain Stratocumulus replies with a worried tone, stopping both him and Captain of the Guard Gibraltar in their hoofsteps in the hallways of Canterlot Castle. "What are you looking for in there?" Captain Gibraltar asks as Stratocumulus rummages through his saddlebag with a wing. "The shift transfer record for this morning... aha!" Stratocumulus explains, pulling out a small stack of papers as he does so with "wing fingers". He drops flat on the floor and spreads the papers in an arc in front of him, looking back and forth between the papers on the floor and one he is holding up with his right wing. Gibraltar looks over the withers of his subordinate down at the papers and makes a worried comment: "Lieutenant Troilus was not supposed to get the special assignment for the Crusaders this morning, what's going on here?" "I don't know sir, all the paperwork says is that the night shift special assignment was told Shining Armor approved the reassignment when the transfer was done." Stratocumulus replies with worry creasing his face. "I'm going to have to double-check that in the office myself." Gibraltar replies with a skeptical tone of voice. "Meanwhile, you wake Shining and get him down here as soon as you possibly can. Something doesn't sit right with me about this, and we need to get to the truth fast if there IS something going on..." "Yes sir, going doubletime!" Stratocumulus replies, jumping back up on his hooves and spinning around so fast the papers around him are blown every which way before he takes off back down the corridor... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ELSEWHERE AT THE CASTLE... "Right this way, fillies. You three were fabulous out there!" Lieutenant Troilus exclaims to the Cutie Mark Crusaders, hiding his repulsion behind a plastered-on grin. "I surely hope so, considering how much we knocked down out there..." Scootaloo replies under her makeup, as she and the other two filles walk through the doorway into the VIP Guest Suite. "Designed to be cleaned up quickly and easily, I can assure you. Now, you three get undressed and cleaned up - your sisters will be arriving to take you back to Ponyville soon." Troilus states, pushing the door into the suite closed behind the fillies as he does so. "Did he just call Rainbow Dash your sister, Scootaloo?" Apple Bloom comments, the conversation heard by Troilus behind the door. "But she is my sister!" Scootaloo exclaims indignantly. "In your dreams, maybe..." Sweetie Belle sasses out. "She will be my sister, one day. Maybe not an actual 'sister sister', but in spirit for sure!" Scootaloo continues on. In the midst of the devolving conversation, the Cutie Mark Crusaders do not hear that Lieutenant Troilus has locked them into the suite! The Lieutenant takes a post directly in front of the lock, trusting that his closest subordinate was doing his job properly... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ AT THE CANTERLOT TRAIN STATION... "Greetings to the three Element Bearers. My name is Lycaon, rank Guard Upper Class serving in the Canterlot Castle, and I'll be your escort while you're in Canterlot today." the unicorn guard in full armor replies, giving a bow of a practiced gracious facade as Rarity and Rainbow Dash step off the train from Ponyville. "Ahh, I see Princess Celestia spared no expense for us! Now Applejack dahling, do hurry up with that bag before you're left behind on there!" Rarity exclaims, first to the guard and then back toward a struggling Applejack still on the train. "How come I gotta carry this stupid heavy bag of your fancy stuff, Rarity?" Applejack snaps indignantly as she shudders under the weight of a fancy decorated bag roughly 3/4ths her size strapped to her back. "Because you're an earth pony, Applejack, and earth ponies are made of dark matter. Hurry up now!" Rarity primly explains as Applejack struggles not to stumble onto the train platform under her load. "Dark matter?" Guard Upper Class Lycaon asks, looking at Rainbow Dash as he does so. "I think it's her fancy talk of way of sayin' 'only an earth pony could carry a load this heavy'." Rainbow Dash replies with a shrug as Applejack lurches onto the platform, just seconds before the train doors close. "Ahh, I see." Lycaon states with stony politeness. "Anyways, the fillies would've just finished their performance, so it'll take some time for them to rest and get cleaned up. I've been authorized to take you fine young mares out for lunch on the royal tab - when we're finished they should be ready for you to pick up and take back to Ponyville." "Fabulous! What do you suggest, sir?" Rarity exclaims, as Rainbow Dash gives a wary look at a red-faced and irritated Applejack. "Well, my personal favorite is a little place called 'The Tasty Treat'. Specialize in spicy food there." Lycaon replies, hopeful that the three would approve of what would ultimately be a trek around the entire circuit of the city, buying some more time for his senior partner to do his work. "Sorry, not a big fan of spicy food at all. Having bullies drip bits of the Cloudsdale rainbows on your tongue as torture does that to a pegasus." Rainbow Dash shakes in response, and both Rarity and Applejack wince a bit at the mental picture, having witnessed the very spice tolerant Pinkie Pie unable to handle those rainbows herself in a visit to Cloudsdale. "Well, any suggestions for an alternative?" Lycaon offers, mentally holding out hope for a still long trek. "How about that 'Kitchen of Tartarus' I've heard a lot about? With the head chef that's a ram?" Rarity states, Applejack and Rainbow Dash exchanging concerned looks after she finishes speaking. Lycaon chuckles before making his reply: "Contrary to what you might've read in the gossip rags, Miss Rarity, I can assure you that Chef Ramspeaks is full-blooded earth pony, albeit one with a temper like your friend's. The ram's horns are just part of the show, and to help keep from injuring himself when he does ram other ponies out of the establishment." Applejack makes an indignant glare at Lycaon after he finishes his explanation, feeling insulted that she was being compared to a pony like the one he was describing, but burdened down with the load she is carrying reluctantly decides not to escalate the situation further. Lycaon can notice, though, her suspicions are already raised as to what is going on, and that his job just got quite a bit harder. "Anyway, I think it'll at least be an interesting experience. Lead the way, sir!" Rarity exclaims again, seeming to settle the subject under discussion. "Of course. This way." Lycaon gestures, turning to face the way off the train platform. As he begins his travels, he feels the critical stare of the burdened Applejack and skeptical Rainbow Dash behind him, and wonders how long he can keep up his polite facade...